Japanese car giant expects to lend €70m in its first year; 50% of cars sold in January were hybrid models

Toyota has become the latest car manufacturer to open a finance house in Ireland, following in the footsteps of Volkswagen, Renault and BMW. On Tuesday, the Japanese car giant officially launched Toyota Financial Services (Ireland) (TFSI) at a ceremony in the company’s headquarters in Dublin, as it laid out plans to offer finance for the rapidly growing hybrid and electric car market.

As reported in the Irish Times earlier this month, the car brand will offer loans and finance deals on new and used vehicles through its dealer network, and expects to lend up to €350 million within five years. Toyota is forecasting loans of €70 million in its first year, and will create 25 jobs in its new finance arm.

TFS(I) is a joint venture between Toyota Financial Services, Toyota’s international finance arm, and Toyota Ireland, the 100 per cent Irish owned distributor of Toyota and Lexus cars in Ireland. TFS has some € 160 billion in assets under management throughout the world, and this is the first time it has entered into such an agreement with a national distributor.

Steve Tormey, chief executive, Toyota Ireland, said he expects the new finance arm will have a significant impact on the Irish motor market.

“We would expect to write somewhere in the region of 4,000 new and used contracts in the coming 12 months with a total value in excess of € 70 million,” he said.

Close to 50 per cent of Toyota’s customers in the Republic currently avail of some form of finance, and the new banking arm will offer products such as personal contract plan, or PCP, deals and hire-purchase agreements. PCP rates will start at 2.9 per cent and average 3.9 per cent.

“A critical element in this mix will be our ability to provide finance for the rapidly growing hybrid sector which has seen major growth in the January market with 48 per cent of Toyota’s sales (4,393) being hybrid,” Mr Tormey said.